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So, You Want to Be a Dancer?: The Ultimate Guide to Exploring the Dance Industry
So, You Want to Be a Dancer?: The Ultimate Guide to Exploring the Dance Industry
So, You Want to Be a Dancer?: The Ultimate Guide to Exploring the Dance Industry
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So, You Want to Be a Dancer?: The Ultimate Guide to Exploring the Dance Industry

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Love dance? Go pro and make movement a way of life with this comprehensive guide that can help you land your dream job in the world of dance.

From front-and-center careers like professional dancer and choreographer to the lesser-known professions of technical director and costume designer, So, You Want to Be a Dancer? reveals a vast expanse of dance-related job possibilities that are as exciting as they are rewarding.

In addition to tips and interviews from many different dance industry professionals, So, You Want to Be a Dancer? includes inspiring stories from young people who are in the industry right now, as well as activities, a glossary, and resources to help you on your way to a successful career in dance.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 7, 2015
ISBN9781442499294
So, You Want to Be a Dancer?: The Ultimate Guide to Exploring the Dance Industry
Author

Laurel van der Linde

Laurel van der Linde’s first career was as a ballet dancer. Trading her pointe shoes for character pumps, she segued into Broadway musical theater, dancing in A Chorus Line, Annie, My Fair Lady, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She also worked with legendary choreographers Gower Champion and Michael Kidd. Moving behind the scenes, van der Linde began her work in sound as a director/producer of audiobooks, working for such publishing houses as Hachette, BBC AA, Brilliance Audion, and Full Cast Audio, and she is the director of the voiceover school at the Famous Radio Ranch in Los Angeles. She is also an instructor of creative writing for children at UCLA and has published four books for kids. She has two sons, Gower and Gavin, and breeds and trains Arabian horses on her ranch in Valencia, California.

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    Book preview

    So, You Want to Be a Dancer? - Laurel van der Linde

    1

    Dance Like the World Is Watching: A History of Dance

    Do you remember the moment when you first thought you wanted to dance? Maybe a friend suggested the idea, or maybe your mom or dad took you to a class to see if you might be interested. Now, do you remember the moment when you realized you must dance? That was the truly pivotal moment, the one when you discovered who you really are. It is easy enough to want something but much harder to turn that desire into a reality. Only those who must have something will succeed at achieving it. You will overcome all obstacles and beat the odds to get what you want.

    And if you want to be a dancer, you will face challenges. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to become a dancer. It is a career that demands the utmost in commitment; this is not an easy life. But if you must have it, then you will meet those challenges head-on and you will be fulfilling your passion.

    And that is a wonderful life.

    QUIZ

    Break a Leg! A Dance Career Quiz

    1. In my spare time I like to

    A. Swim or do yoga

    B. Watch movie musicals

    C. Go to the mall

    D. Make snacks for my friends or help my parents make dinner

    E. Read dancer biographies

    2. At school, I am known as

    A. The athlete

    B. The one with the organized calendar and binders

    C. The one who talks all the time

    D. The one who likes to help when someone gets injured in gym or has a cold

    E. The one who is the first to finish an assignment

    3. My idea of a great birthday present is

    A. A new leotard or jazz pants perfect for dancing

    B. Tickets to a Broadway musical

    C. A new video game

    D. A cookbook

    E. A new book about dance

    4. My favorite television shows are

    A. Any of the dance competitions like So You Think You Can Dance

    B. Glee

    C. Once Upon a Time or Face Off—anything with great costumes and makeup

    D. Iron Chef, Master Chef, or Chopped

    E. Sports analysis shows

    5. I am happiest when

    A. I am in the dance studio

    B. I am watching a great television show

    C. I am shopping for new clothes

    D. I am helping my parents in the vegetable garden or tending to our windowsill herbs

    E. I am reading

    6. I like to read

    A. Sports magazines

    B. Anything I can find about dance and dancers

    C. Scripts

    D. Food blogs

    E. Nonfiction books

    7. My favorite movies are

    A. Happy Feet

    B. Footloose

    C. Monsters, Inc.

    D. Ratatouille

    E. Mona Lisa Smile

    8. My favorite place to be is

    A. Performing in the school musical

    B. In the art studio

    C. Working behind the scenes on a school play

    D. Eating at a great restaurant

    E. At a bookstore

    9. My favorite class in school is

    A. Gym

    B. Choir

    C. English

    D. Science

    E. Social studies

    10. I like to listen to

    A. Anything that gets my feet moving

    B. Broadway show albums

    C. Music from famous ballets

    D. Online kids-radio cooking shows

    E. Podcasts about arts and culture

    If your answers are mostly As, Bs, and Cs, then you may be interested in a career onstage or behind the scenes, as a dancer, artistic director, or marketer.

    If you answered mostly Ds, you may be interested in being a part of a dancer’s team, as a chiropractor or a nutritionist.

    If you answered mostly Es, you may be interested in being an art critic or in photographing dancers.


    To Dance Is to Be Human

    What is this compulsion we have to move? Are we trying to match our feet, our fingers, our lungs to our heartbeat? Are we trying to connect with the rhythms of the earth? What is this need, this hunger, this passion . . . to dance? The cave paintings and other records of ancient civilizations show dance at the center of human culture. Early people did not consider dance as entertainment but as an essential form of expression. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks incorporated dance into their religious rituals. The Greeks deified dance by honoring Terpsichore, their muse of dance, praying to her for inspiration so that their dances would please and bring them closer to the gods. India and Japan shared this philosophy, and we see their influence centuries later in the works of the founders of modern dance.

    The Complex Steps of Asian Dance

    Classic Indian dance is made up of three parts: natya, which is the drama of the dance; nritta, which is the rhythm; and nritya, which is the communication of the dance. At first, Hindu dance was taught by gurus or holy men charged with passing on the dances to their students, who would, in turn, pass them on to their students. But given the size of India, there were certain regionalisms that crept into the sacred dances. In the southern part of India, the temple dancers were female, their lives dedicated to the service of the gods, so their dancing was soft and alluring. In contrast, the dances in the southwest were hard, and the dancers appeared to be going into battle. The north showed off elegance while the northeast style was delicate and refined. A dancer portraying Shiva, the main god of the Hindu religion, was often cast as the Lord of the Dance, dancing the world into creation.

    BY THE NUMBERS: INDIAN DANCE

    The movements used in Indian dance are very specific—and numerous. Above the neck, there are:

    • Thirteen positions of the head

    • Thirty-six glances

    • Seven movements of the eyes

    • Nine flutters of the eyelids

    • Seven quirks of the eyebrows

    • Six twitches of the nose

    • Seven shifts of the chin

    The neck has nine movements, and there are twenty-four hand gestures, in addition to separate movements for legs and feet. All of these must be coordinated with the music into an intentional dance. Far more complicated than patting your head and rubbing your stomach or walking and chewing gum at the same time!

    The dances of Thailand incorporate many of the elements of Indian dance but in ways unique to the Thai people. Before a dancer can perform the traditional dances, he or she must pass two tests. The first requires mastery of a combination of nineteen basic movements. The second requires the dancer to demonstrate balance and composure in the body by dancing to both fast and slow tempos. After passing these tests, the dancers are then qualified to dance solos in one of two different types of theater.

    Thai men are accompanied by a male singer who narrates the story while an orchestra supports both the dancers and the storyteller. The costumes are elaborate, made of breathtaking gold-and-silver cloth and with traditional spire headpieces; and this style of Thai dancing is only performed at the royal court.

    Thai women perform the lakon. The stories for this type of dance came from Thai legends as well as more formal histories. Like the female temple dancers of India, these dancers move in ways that are very feminine, slow, delicate, and refined. And the costumes are stunning, with plumed fans and beautiful fabrics used as props, and set pieces to tell the story.

    INSPIRATION FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN

    Choreographer Jerome Robbins took his inspiration from lakon, a dance Thai women traditionally danced, to create The Small House of Uncle Thomas ballet for the second act of the Broadway musical The King and I.

    Japan is known for kabuki, folk dance, and noh, religious and ritual dances. Only flute and percussion are used in noh; while in kabuki a group of musicians plays backstage in addition to an onstage use of the shamisen (a three-string plucked instrument).

    As so many dances around the world have begun, Japanese dance began as rituals of the Shinto religion. Danced by priestesses, noh called upon a divine presence and brought peace to dead souls. The serious noh dramas generally included a bit of light, dialogued theater (think comic relief). These intervals were the beginning of kabuki, the people’s art.

    Kabuki officially became an art form separate from noh when the Shintu priestess, Okumi, danced at a public festival in 1604. This also paved the way for women to perform. Japanese geisha girls, for example, realized their male clients wanted to see kabuki as part of an evening’s entertainment. The makeup of kabuki dancers, female and male, is extreme, including faces painted stark white and robes that are heavily decorated.

    Comparing these different cultures, it becomes obvious that we have continued to answer our primal needs through dance, driving our bodies forward and demanding more of them in an effort to improve, outdo, and (here is the key word) revolutionize what has gone before. It is through a series of such innovations that dance has evolved from tribal storytelling and religious ritual to a structured and systematic art of movement—while remaining a powerful communication tool. And in the Western world, it all began with a wedding.

    From France to Italy . . .

    During the Middle Ages there were only two dances performed in the European courts. One was a kind of chain dance for which the dancers held hands and snaked around in a line. The music was strictly in the background; there was no attempt on the part of the dancers to match their movements to it. The other dance was a very sedate dance—partners held each other by their little fingers as they walked and posed. Though there was some effort to coordinate movement and music, there was not much footwork, and it was not very exciting. Dance was in the doldrums.

    Then the cultural shake-up of the Renaissance swept away the cobwebs of old manners and thinking. Art, science, and culture were reborn. In 1533 fourteen-year-old Catherine de Medici of Florence, Italy, married French King Henry II. Fireworks, magicians, and twenty-course meals with peacocks parading across the dining tables were common attractions at this time in Italy, so something even more special was needed for such a royal wedding. An elegant dance called balletti was performed in honor of the couple. This dance quickly took hold in France, and newly crowned Queen Catherine used it as publicity for the French court. The French reconstituted the word balletti as ballet, and dance was on its way to becoming a modern art form.

    Name: Alex Castillo

    Job: Soloist, Los Angeles Ballet

    When did you start dancing and why?

    When I was seven or eight. My mom had danced, not professionally; she was more of a tap dancer. She took my brother and me with her to class because there was no babysitter. Sitting in the back watching the class, something came over me and I thought I should try it. The first school I went to was more of a competition studio—it was more tap and jazz with bootleg ballet. At thirteen, I transferred to Ballet Academy East in New York City. It became my second home. I owe them everything.

    Even so dance was merely an interlude during other theatrical works—these performances were rather like today’s football halftime shows: just a diversion while people waited for the main show to resume. But a generation later, when Catherine’s son, Charles IX, founded the Académie de Poésie et de Musique in 1570, dance became popular. In 1581 the queen’s sister, Mademoiselle de Vaudemont, and the king’s brother, the Duc de Joyeuse, commissioned the production of Le Ballet Comique de la Reine to celebrate their wedding. The lavish drama involved singing and acting as well as dancing (think of it as a sixteenth-century Broadway musical), with the entire production lasting ten and a half hours. The choreography followed many precise geometric patterns, which amazed and delighted the French court.

    As Europe moved into the seventeenth century, dance became more and more essential to the French court. King Louis XIII, an excellent dancer himself, starred in many court productions. He also wrote the stories for the ballets and designed costumes. His son, Louis XIV, followed quite literally in his father’s footsteps. At age fifteen he danced the central role of the Sun in Le Ballet de la Nuit (The Ballet of the Night). The thirteen-hour production lived up to its name in that it lasted all night, ending with the dawn and the arrival of the sun, literally and figuratively. Thereafter, Louis XIV was known as Le Roi de Soleil, the Sun King.

    Louis XIV is considered the founding father of classical dance. He founded L’Académie de la Danse in 1661, and it was under his influence that the five basic positions of dance were established. As dance was still the province of the nobility (they were the ones footing the bills for these lavish productions, after all), ballets were performed at court, where there was no elevated stage. Costumes were elegant, and dancers wore the fashions of the day. Their shoes were shoes they’d wear in everyday life, made of velvet or leather. As a rule, women were not allowed to perform; Catherine de Medici was the exception. (When you’re the queen, you can do as you like.)

    While the French were perfecting court ballet, across the Alps in Florence, Italy, the Italians had found a new way to celebrate a royal wedding. In 1589 the guests at the marriage of Ferdinando de Medici, duke of Tuscany, to Queen Catherine’s granddaughter, Christine of Lorraine, were entertained by the first opera, La Pelligrina. This lengthy production of seven interludes marked the first time that the dancing actually supported the dramatic action rather than functioning just as side entertainment. Given the success of this new musical genre—and not to be outdone by the Italians—the French grabbed the lead again and founded the Paris Opera in 1669. The opera company was housed in a building constructed specially for it. Just over two centuries later, that building became the setting for Gaston Le Roux’s serialized novel, The Phantom of the Opera. For the first time in modern Western history, the focus shifted away from performances at court, where only members of the nobility could participate, toward a new kind of performer—the professional dancer. A longstanding style and tradition was overturned. The changes were radical. The Sun King, founding father of ballet, now forbade members of his court to perform in any of the operas. If anyone did, that person would lose his noble title. And now, for the first time, women were permitted to assume their rightful place in these performances. The third major

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